Street-Led Collective Housing

Street-Led Collective Housing explores how the everyday spatial practices of Dinghaiqiao, Shanghai, can inform the design of collective housing and its shared spaces.

The project draws on an analysis of twelve street typologies and everyday activities within the neighbourhood, examining how different spatial configurations accommodate circulation, daily routines, and social interaction. Six resident profiles further identify diverse needs for privacy, social interaction, leisure, and shared space.

Five housing unit configurations respond to different household sizes and degrees of sharing, forming the residential basis of the proposal. At the larger scale, the units are organised into clusters that combine continuous circulation with semi-enclosed communal spaces.

This organisation develops into a multi-level housing system structured by a Dual-Axis Public Space Strategy: a north–south leisure axis running along the second-floor leisure platform and an east–west ground-level sports axis. Adjacent balconies, shared indoor corridors, inter-building connection platforms, rooftop recreation spaces, and open ground-floor spaces extend the idea of the street across different levels, creating varied settings for everyday activities and social encounters.

The proposal reinterprets Dinghaiqiao’s spatial practices within a contemporary collective-housing framework that supports both everyday communal life and residential privacy.